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Team:KU Leuven/Parts
From 2013.igem.org
Secret garden
Congratulations! You've found our secret garden! Follow the instructions below and win a great prize at the World jamboree!
- A video shows that two of our team members are having great fun at our favourite company. Do you know the name of the second member that appears in the video?
- For one of our models we had to do very extensive computations. To prevent our own computers from overheating and to keep the temperature in our iGEM room at a normal level, we used a supercomputer. Which centre maintains this supercomputer? (Dutch abbreviation)
- We organised a symposium with a debate, some seminars and 2 iGEM project presentations. An iGEM team came all the way from the Netherlands to present their project. What is the name of their city?
Now put all of these in this URL:https://2013.igem.org/Team:KU_Leuven/(firstname)(abbreviation)(city), (loose the brackets and put everything in lowercase) and follow the very last instruction to get your special jamboree prize!
Parts
Here you will find the BioBricks we made this summer in the wetlab. Our three favorite parts are marked with a heart:
- BBa_K1060000 contains the aroG gene, coding for 3-deoxy-D-arabino-heptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase and is a part of the Shikimate pathway. It converts phosphoenolpyruvate and erythrose-4P to chorismate. In our project chorismate was one of the precursors needed for the biosynthesis of methyl salicylate (see also BBa_K1060003). As basic chorismate levels inside E. coli are limited. We wanted to upregulate the biosynthesis of chorismate. The basic aroG gene can be repressed by phenylalanine. However, mutatations in the amino acid sequence (Pro150Leu and Leu175Asp) can prevent this repression by phenylalanine.
- BBa_K1060001 contains EBF synthase from Streptomyces coelicolor. In this organism the enzyme albaflavenone synthase (GenBank: AL939123.1) also has a second, completely distinct catalytic activity corresponding to the synthesis of farnesene isomers from farnesyl diphosphate (Zhao et al., 2009). It results in the production of (E)-beta-farnesene (61%).
- BBa_K1060002 contains an open reading frame that codes for a sesquiterpene synthase (GenBank Accession No. AY835398), (E)-b-farnesene synthase, that has been isolated from Artemisia annua (Picaud et al., 2005). The enzyme converts farnesyl diphosphate into E-β-farnesene. E-β-farnesene is an alarm hormone produced by aphids. It is also an important semiochemicals in aphid localization. It is released in the cornicle secretions of many aphid species (Franscis et al., 2005) to alert surrounding aphids of the presence of natural enemies (Kunert et al., 2005). Detection of these short range chemical cues leads not to the aphid directly, but only indicates the presence, improving prey detection of the predators and parasitoids.
Group Favourite: it was a milestone in our project work. We succeeded to clone the beta farnesene synthase of Artemisia annua in E. coli. To apply to the iGEM standards, we removed an EcoRI site in the gene (AY835398.1).This gave us one of the basic parts we needed to create our system. - BBa_K1060003
- BBa_K1060004
- BBa_K1060005
- BBa_K1060006
- BBa_K1060007
- BBa_K1060008
- BBa_K1060009 is a construct that constitutively expresses beta farnesene synthase. This synthase will convert farnesyl pyrophosphate into the aphid alarm hormone, (E)-β-farnesene.
- BBa_K1060010
- BBa_K1060011 is similar to BBa_K1060009. However, in this biobrick we added a lac operator in front of the beta farnesene synthase. This makes it possible to switch of (E)- β-farnesene production by using biosensors expressing LacI.
- BBa_K1060012
- BBa_K1060013
